WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — A 33-year-old man from West Valley City is facing aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury charges after police say he attacked another man near a gas station in the city.
Neti Kuki Huavi Jr was arrested Tuesday in connection with the assault that happened on Christmas Eve.
According to court documents, on December 24th, officers were investigating a domestic violence incident that began in the area of 4150 South 4080 West before the involved parties went to the Speedway gas station at 4100 South and 4000 West.
One of the involved parties was determined to be Huavi and police went to his residence to speak with him. While there, officers say they heard loud screaming coming from an upstairs apartment at the complex.
Officers responded and found a 26-year-old man who was covered in blood. Investigators say that the victim initially claimed to have fallen down the stairs but later admitted to being assaulted.
In front of Huavi's apartment, police say they found a vehicle parked with a smear of blood on it and a small amount of blood on the ground. Also in the area was a rock that appeared to have blood on it.
Detectives returned to the gas station and collected surveillance video that allegedly showed Huavi wearing a red top, dark green pants, and white tennis shoes. Due to the proximity of the call, officers determined that Huavi may have been involved in the assault.
The victim was taken to the hospital, and doctors say he was diagnosed with significant facial trauma, including a laceration to his face, a broken rib, and multiple mandible fractures that doctors stated would require his jaw to be wired shut.
Once out of the hospital, police showed a photo line-up of suspects to the victim and say that he chose Huavi as the suspect.
When police interviewed Huavi for a second time, he stated that he had gotten into an argument with his girlfriend before he went to the gas station. However, Huavi claimed that he left the gas station and walked north before his sister picked him up.
Huavi told investigators that he was going with his sister to her residence and stayed there for two days.
However, when police went to the sister's home and asked her to confirm the alibi, she told police that she didn't go to pick up her brothers anywhere. The sister's husband also claimed not to know who Huavi was.
Police also confirmed that Huavi wasn't with them for the two days that he claimed.
Detectives then contacted the victim again to ask what the suspect who assaulted him was wearing that night. The victim told police the suspect was wearing a black or red long-sleeve shirt, which they claim matches what Huavi was wearing in the surveillance video.
